On Wednesday last week I posted about spending was is, to me, a small fortune. It was fun to just let loose and forget about how much interest the money could have been making in my RRSP or TSFA for just one moment. The euphoric feeling of “new stuff” goes away quite quickly, so here I am back to saving.
I have had the goal to increase my emergency fund in 2013, and to have added $10,000 to the fund by the time the year ended.
I have definitely made that goal, but after I hit it, I rerouted lots of my “emergency fund” to the emergency of paying off my car loan. I still have a healthy emergency fund, but I want to rebuild it back up to $10,000 and leave it there for the sake of my own peace of mind. Especially as a home owner, emergency funds on the larger side are necessary. I’m always worrying about disasters that will leave us broke. We have insurance, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a rational human!
The Accounts
I’ll be able to start saving quite a lot of my income in September (which yes, is only days away). Since I am already at around half of my emergency fund goal in one mid-interest savings account, I am going to be keeping what is already in that account there, and then find another account for the other half of the fund as I accumulate it.
I feel like if my furnace were to decide to kick the bucket, it would do so on the coldest winter day, and it would be really expensive. I know it’s not going to happen (our furnace is relatively new and just recently serviced), but Murphy’s law never fails. That being said, emergencies don’t wait for funds to be freed, so I’m trying to find the best easy access savings accounts for the other half of my fund. I think that would be a fun experiment, too, to see how each half of the EF does compared to the other.
Future Plans
If I don’t have an emergency within the next year or so, where I’ll need to access the funds, I may re-evaluate then. I may take a little bit out to travel a bit more (perhaps a honeymoon is in my future? That would be awesome).
We may make extra mortgage payments or something of that nature with anything over $7,000 that I accumulate over the next year, too, if we don’t have to use it. Don’t burn me at the stake, J also has an emergency fund.
I was talking about this with a good friend of mine (the one that got married last year and then moved to Australia with her new husband). She and her husband have decided to leave Australia for Europe, but they are starting off in London for a year. She’s trying to convince me to visit them for a period of time. We have too much going on though.
I feel like having a substantial emergency fund leaves more room for putting money away for other goals in your life. WIth money, things become possible that may not have been before.
What is your emergency fund goal? Have you reached it?
We’re also rebuilding our emergency fund (back up to $10,000) right now. My husband just had one dental surgery for $5500 and another on the way for $6500, so the $10,000 we had will be wiped. Grrr. But we’re aiming to refill it by the end of this year or early 2014. Fingers crossed. Good luck with yours too!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you guys. Good luck!
Emergency fund is a necessity and the rule of thumb is at least 6 months income. If you have a family and a large mortgage payment it’s a great idea to have even 9-12 month income in your emergency fund. If you have more savings than that than you might want to invest it in some conservative government bonds or blue chip stocks to earn some income.
I wish you good luck, Daisy. If you were able to hit your $10,000 goal before, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it again.